The Steam Database
has details on a patch for Fallout 3 that rolled out
a few days ago that removes some variables with names like ShowCDKeyOnLaunch and LegacyKeyRegistryLocation that the posters on
NeoGAF say
shows the removal of Games for Windows LIVE functionality from
Bethesda's action/RPG sequel. This is by no means a stretch, as various other
games have recently removed support for Microsoft's DRM, including
Ultra Street Fighter IV,
BioShock 2, the
Arkham series, and DiRT
3 amid rife speculation
that the service will soon end altogether following the closure of the GFWL
marketplace during
the summer. This should theoretically be easy enough to check, but
reinstalling Fallout 3 here has resulted in errors keeping the game from
launching, but for what it's worth, we did not see any GFWL. Thanks
The Escapist. Update: After getting the game to run (protip: Fallout
3 does not seem to appreciate dual-monitor setups), Fallout 3 ran without any
GFWL prompts. Update 2: Upon closer examination, the game did install the
Games for Windows LIVE client, and when this was uninstalled, Fallout 3 will no
longer launch.

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fiftykyu wrote on Jan 7, 2014, 17:50:A game that combined Elder Scrolls style open world with Dark Souls style combat might be a lot of fun. Seems Bethesda have gone in the opposite direction since Morrowind, though. Got the impression Witcher 3 was going for that combination, i.e. player skill based instead of mash R1 to kill everything, but we'll see how it turns out...

You feel Morrowind was the epitome of player skill in combat in an Elder Scrolls game?

I guess one big problem with having combat player-skill based, though - what if the player sucks? If you can't beat the first boss, you're not going to tell all your friends to buy the game. For no reason at all I was reminded of this problem today, while playing Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams.

Skill-based gameplay undermines roleplaying. If skill matters more than stats, then roles become meaningless because players can do whatever they're good at.

Which is why gunplay can be so hard. Do you make guns do less damage, which makes little sense, or do you make people terrible at aim, which can be frustrating (I always hate gunplay in the first level of Deus Ex, if I remember.)

Best case is Borderlands, where you magically can use guns that do more damage yet look identical. I'm ok with it, but whenever someone tries to add logic around it in-game it falls apart. Better to just not really acknowledge the mechanic.